This invention relates to hitching apparatus and the like, and is more particularly concerned with an adjustable trailer hitch having an interchangeable connecting means for connection to various size trailers, particularly to mobile homes.
In the mobile home industry, there are various sizes and designs of mobile dwellings and the purchasers, and therefore the manufacturers are most concerned with the construction of the home as it relates to daily living as opposed to the portion of the construction as it relates to movement between dwelling sites. As a result, there is no standardization in the mobile home industry as to trailer height, weight, weight distribution, hitch height or hitch size, and the towing or traction vehicle must conform to the particular towing requirements of a mobile home which is to be moved.
To make possible the use of a single vehicle to tow a variety of trailers, the usual arrangement has been to have a hitch ball that is bolted to a hitch tongue so the hitch ball can possibly be removed and replaced with the appropriate size ball. In practice, however, the threaded bolt portion of the hitch ball becomes corroded so that it frequently must be cut off, thereby destroying the hitch ball. The tongue on which the hitch member is carried usually is a size which might fit trailers of different sizes, heights, etc. Thus, the tongue construction of the towing assembly of the traction vehicle usually has been selected on the basis of the most frequently towed trailer and it usually is poorly designed for different trailers.
The proper height position of the hitch of the traction vehicle with respect to the towed vehicle is important in view of the fact that the weight distribution on each of the axles is an important factor in the safe movement of the trailer. The leveling of the trailer will cause the weight to be equal on all axles. When the hitch is too low or too high it will put a larger amount of the load on the front axle or on the back axle respectively, creating hazards of blowing out tires, swerving and trailer instability when being towed.